USC football wasted no time in hiring Pete Carroll’s replacement, the controversial former USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
But let’s be honest. Can Laney really duplicate the coaching performance Sneaky Pete put on in the past decade?
Maybe. But I doubt it.
In Tuesday’s newspaper, my colleague Ryan Eshoff and I did our weekly “Battle of the Columnists” piece.
This week’s topic: the departure of Pete Carroll from USC.
But it seems to me that the UCLA sports community doesn’t realize just how important, monumental and downright huge Carroll’s departure actually is.
Therefore, I feel it more than necessary that I rehash a few of the issues addressed in Tuesday’s “Battle of the Columnists.”
Our initial topic, and probably the most important point in the mind of the UCLA football fan, was how will Carroll’s ascent to the NFL affect the balance of power in Los Angeles collegiate football.
It affects things greatly, to say the least.
Last offseason, Morrell Presley and Randall Carroll were two top recruits originally slated to play under Petey C. at USC.
Long story short, Neuheisel gobbled them up. Both Presley and Carroll are thought to play important roles in the Bruins’ offense for the next few years.
Now, Presley and Carroll, although both highly touted coming out of high school, were not on the level of a Matt Barkley, the No. 1 high school player in the country who started at quarterback for ‘SC as a freshman.
But what a lot of people don’t know was that Barkley’s second choice was none other than UCLA. That’s right, it was either “Sneaky Pete” or “Slick Rick” for Barkley.
But now that Sneaky Pete is gone, what’s to stop Slick Rick from getting the next Matt Barkley? My point is that Neuheisel was already making strides in infiltrating the California recruiting market.
Essentially, he was sneaking up on Sneaky Pete.
And as we all know, recruiting is the foundation of building a dynasty. Pete proved that to us for years. Since 2002, USC hasn’t had a recruiting class outside of the Top 10 in the nation. And three of those years, 2003, 2004 and 2006, they had the No. 1 recruiting class.
In short, no longer will it be predestined that the top recruits in California become Trojans after high school. UCLA is bound to get a much higher percentage of those top recruits, and the UCLA-USC rivalry will ultimately intensify.
Next topic: What does Carroll’s departure mean for the Pac-10 as a whole?
A lot.
Until this past season, in which the Oregon Ducks were finally able to dethrone the mighty Trojans, USC had won seven consecutive Pac-10 titles. And from 2002-2008, the Trojans were 52-7 in the Pac-10.
Clearly, they were dominant in conference. But after such an abysmal 2009 Pac-10 campaign, in which USC went 5-4, including losses to Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Arizona, it was evident that the tide has already begun to swing a bit.
Sure, Carroll thought that he would have Mark Sanchez for one more year to guide his team to the Rose Bowl or better, but still, home losses to Stanford and Arizona will never bode well in Troy, no matter the circumstances.
So my conclusion is this: If ‘SC keeps Carroll, they are still the favorite to win the Pac-10 each and every year. But seeing what happened to the Trojans this past season, and adding in the departure of Carroll, it looks like it will be downhill for USC, which in my opinion, hurts the Pac-10.
Allow me to explain. Obviously, Pete sneaking to Seattle and essentially dismantling the USC dynasty means that the Pac-10 should become more competitive. But is that necessarily a positive thing? Isn’t it good to have a Goliath so he can be taken down by a David?
For instance, if the Bruins beat the Trojans next season, sure, it will be sweet. But wouldn’t it be sweeter to see Slick Rick get revenge for that late-game Trojan touchdown play devised by Sneaky Pete this past season? Hasn’t Pete engrained himself within the Bruins-Trojans rivalry? It certainly won’t be the same without him.
I even enjoyed the trash talk between Petey and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.
The point is, for the past 8-10 years, Pete Carroll has been the face of Pac-10 football. He’s the only coach to bring home a national championship to the West Coast in the past decade.
Hate him or love him, he’s put and kept the Pac-10 on the map by his lonesome self.
And as much as it will increase the Bruins’ chances to win the Pac-10 and beat ‘SC, I bet Slicky Ricky didn’t want Sneaky Pete to leave. Neuheisel’s a competitor. He doesn’t want it on his resume that he never beat Pete in his tenure as UCLA head coach. I bet he’s upset he won’t get a third crack at his crosstown rival coach.
Hopefully, Kiffin can stir up some controversy in the Pac-10 the same way he did upon arriving in Knoxville and upsetting Florida’s Urban Meyer. But no matter what he does, he’ll never have the impact Pete did at ‘SC.
All in all, Pete Carroll leaving USC is the worst thing to happen to the Pac-10 sports scene, in any sport, in quite some time. I’ve never been one to wish bad luck on others, but let’s just say I’m not rooting for Pete to be the next Bill Belichick. I’d rather he become the next college coach-turned-pro who realizes that the collegiate ranks is where he belongs.
Then, by some divine intervention, he can come back and coach the Trojans, and I can go back to caring about the UCLA-USC football rivalry.
E-mail Brantley Watson at bwatson@media.ucla.edu.